Homeowners insurance exists because a home is a huge investment, often one of the largest purchases many people make in their lifetimes. Naturally, people want to protect the value of their precious property. Homeowners insurance is a contract between a homeowner and an insurance company. As long as the owner pays the required premiums and meets the other policy requirements, the insurance company guarantees to reimburse the owner for any losses incurred due to natural disasters or human-caused damage.

What Does It Cover?

A basic homeowner’s insurance policy protects the owner against any property damage that results from things like fire, lightning, wind or hail storms. It will also provide for motel and food costs if you are forced to leave your home while such damages are repaired.

A typical policy, however, does not cover flood or earthquake damage. Because these issues are usually specific to certain regions of the country and can cause extreme damage, these can be purchased as separate policies. If you live in a flood zone or near an earthquake fault line you may be required by your mortgage company to carry these protections.

A basic policy will also cover homeowners against loss from theft or vandalism as well as reimbursement for personal property destroyed in natural disasters. It will also provide for something that many people may not normally associate with home protection – liability coverage for lawsuits brought against the owner by people who were injured on the property. This includes the cost of legal defense up to the allowed policy limit. Additionally, most policies will have a provision that will cover the basic medical expenses for the parties.

Homebuyers are required in almost every instance to buy a homeowners insurance policy for their desired piece of real estate. This protects the owner and the mortgage lender against losses caused by damage to the property, either from natural disasters or from human-made destruction. One of the main concerns of many homebuyers, however, is how much the insurance will cost. While there is no standard answer, understanding the factors that determine the price can help give buyers a good estimate of their premiums.

The Size and Type of Home

The price of your premium is partially determined by things like the amount of the homes’ square footage, age and type of building materials used in the structure. It is also important to note whether your home has been recently updated or renovated as well as if there have been any additions made to it. All of these aspects will help the insurance company figure out how much it would cost to rebuild your house in case of a disaster. The more expensive the rebuilding costs the more expensive your insurance policy will be.

Buying homeowners insurance for a condominium is slightly different than buying a policy for a single-family home. This is because condos have building associations that insure the shared features of the complex. Before you purchase your insurance coverage, it is important to know what your responsibilities are.

What the Association Covers

While each condo association insurance policy will be slightly different, in general, you can expect it to cover any damages to the structure of your building, the common areas, and shared amenities like the water and gas pipes. The policy should also provide liability and medical fee coverage in case one of your guests is injured the condo common areas.

What You Need to Insure

You will be responsible for insuring everything inside the walls of your home. This includes any fixtures like cabinets and appliances. Additionally, a standard condo homeowners insurance policy will provide for protection of your personal property against damage or theft. If you have any special collections of jewelry or other extremely valuable possessions, you may need to take out a supplemental policy.

As a condo owner, you will be responsible for getting Additional Living Expenses coverage. In the case of major damage to your home, your policy would then pay for the expenses associated with living elsewhere while your place is repaired. Primarily this means things like hotel and food charges.

Your policy should also include liability insurance for any injuries incurred by others while inside your condo. This would pay for the legal fees for any resulting lawsuits as well as compensation for the injured guest. Most policies will also include a guest medical protection clause that will provide for medical treatment for any such injured visitors.

Standard homeowners insurance policies will protect your condo against damages due to fire, smoke, lightning, wind and hailstorms, explosion, and falling objects, but they do not cover flood or earthquake destruction. If you like live in an area affected by these issues, you will need additional policies.